In Re MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC. [ORDER] (2025-134, 11/06/2025) (Dyk, Linn, Cunningham) Linn, J. The Court denied Motorola Solutions, Inc.’s petition for a writ of mandamus challenging the Acting Director’s decision to...more
Since the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rescinded former Director Vidal’s 2022 memorandum concerning discretionary denials under the Fintiv framework (Vidal Memo) in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)...more
On November 6, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Judges Dyk, Linn, Cunningham, and/or Stoll) issued orders denying three petitions for mandamus (out of seven currently pending) challenging then-Acting...more
Our case of the week is one of a series of cases challenging newly-enacted procedures by the Trump Administration that are having a significant effect on the inter partes review regime set up by the America Invents Act. In a...more
The Federal Circuit’s latest ruling in In re Motorola Solutions, Inc. solidifies the discretionary authority of the USPTO director over inter partes review institution decisions, underscores the limited scope of judicial...more
In a trio of rulings on Nov. 6, 2025, the Federal Circuit delivered a clear message: discretionary denial of Inter Partes Review (IPR) petitions is unreviewable on appeal. The court will not interfere with the U.S. Patent and...more
In December 2024, Jonathan Gabrielli filed several claims alleging that Motorola Mobility LLC (Motorola) misrepresented its data usage policy and shared his personal data with third parties, including Google, Amazon, and...more
This is the fourth issue of WilmerHale’s FRAND Quarterly: Navigating the Global SEP Landscape, a bulletin that highlights developments about the licensing, litigation, and regulation of patents that are or are claimed to be...more
Sometimes it is all about the money. In Motorola v. Hytera, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals addressed “a large and blatant theft of trade secrets” from Motorola by its competitor Hytera. The damages awarded to Motorola,...more
A federal appeals court recently applied a U.S. trade secrets law to sales outside the country, finding that Motorola was entitled to $407 million in damages from a foreign competitor for trade secrets misappropriation. A...more
On May 11, 2024, the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) celebrated its eight-year anniversary. The DTSA’s enactment in 2016 marked a turning point in US trade secret protection. It gave parties seeking redress for...more
This month’s ITC Wrap-Up reviews a recent investigation exploring exemptions to the Commission’s remedial orders. Certain Wet Dry Surface Cleaning Devices, Inv. No. 337-TA-1304, Final Determination (Dec. 18, 2023)....more
Although provisional applications can be used to secure an earlier date for 102(e), the petitioner bears the burden of production in establishing a prior art date for the asserted prior art. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board...more
Precedential Federal Circuit Opinions - UNILOC 2017 LLC v. GOOGLE LLC [OPINION] (2021-1498, 2021-1500, 2021-1501, 2021-1502, 2021-1503, 2021-1504, 2021-1505, 2021-1506, 2021-1507, 2021-1508, 2021-1509, 11/4/2022) (Lourie,...more
In a series of related cases, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed two decisions from the US District Court for the District of Delaware regarding collateral estoppel on standing issues and reversed a...more
Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Motorola Mobility LLC, Appeal Nos 2021-1555, -1795 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 4, 2022) - Our Case of the Week is ostensibly a case about whether a patent owner has standing to sue when that patent holder has...more
In Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd. v. Motorola Solutions, Inc., 1-17-cv-01794 (NDOH 2021-04-29, Order) (Donald C. Nugent), the District Court denied defendant’s motion for attorney fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285, determining...more
Two cases illustrate the narrow scope of application for exceptions to the without prejudice rule of legal privilege. Background - In two recent judgments, the High Court found exception to the ‘without prejudice’ rule...more
On March 5, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a final judgment on a jury verdict of approximately $764.6 million in a high profile trade secret misappropriation case — Motorola...more
Virtually all significant antitrust cases these days have an international component. Markets now are worldwide. Consequently, one of the most frequently litigated—and most important issues—is the extent of U.S. jurisdiction....more
The Japan Patent Office (JPO) published a 56-page “Guide to Licensing Negotiations Involving Standard Essential Patents” (“Guide”) on June 5, 2018. The Guide provides an overview of licensing negotiation processes and royalty...more
WHAT HAPPENED: ..Wading into the merging streams of antitrust and patents, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld dismissal of an antitrust suit where a jury verdict in a parallel case found no patent...more
Addressing the issue of direct infringement in the context of a system claim, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s denial of Motorola’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, which...more
On Sept. 13, 2017, the United States District Court for the Federal Circuit clarified the meaning of the term “use” as it applies to system claims in patent infringement actions. In doing so, the court held that an infringer...more
In a striking decision that has the civil litigation bar abuzz about its implications, the D.C. court that first introduced us to the Frye test has now overturned it in favor of Daubert. What distinguishes the court’s...more